Model Behavior
by PrincessBellePrinceAdam
Summary: [Lightspeed Rescue] Carter and Dana talk. Set immediately after In the Limelight. CarterxDana


**Model Behavior**

**Set immediately after In the Limelight. For dragoneyes5000.**

She had come back to the Aquabase with a smile on her face but a hurt look in her eyes. Of course, Carter was the only one who noticed this, excepting Ryan, who promptly told Carter it was his duty as red ranger to go and check on Dana.

Carter Grayson stood in front of the door to Dana and Kelsey's room, pacing. When it came to running into a burning building or kicking some demon ass, he had no fear. But when it came to talking to women, particularly a blond pink ranger, he was petrified. Not that you would notice. He liked to think that his affections for his pink ranger were well hidden under a business-only front.

"Just go in there already," Joel and Ryan said together, passing Carter on their way to the common room.

"Right." Carter took a deep breath and knocked.

"Who is it?" Dana called from the other side of the door.

"Carter," he replied.

"Come in!" she chirped, a little too perkily. Anything she might claim about being perfectly alright would be false, her tone confirmed.

The door slid open with a faint hiss, revealing Dana curled up in a beanbag chair. She had been reading, as the thick novel and bowl of popcorn in her lap suggested.

Carter sank down onto her bed and looked at her for a long minute. "Are you sure everything's alright, Dana?"

Dana looked confused. "Why wouldn't everything be alright?" she asked, frowning.

"Kelsey said Coco whatever-her-name-is wants _her_ to be the new model for Glitz. That's gotta sting."

Dana shook her head. "Kelsey is my friend, and if she takes the job it's not a big deal. I only accepted the job because it would help pay for medical school, Carter."

Carter nodded his head, got off of the bed and pulled Kelsey's beanbag over by Dana's. "If you ask me, I didn't think that it was your kind of deal. The girl who blew off her friends when they were in trouble wasn't the Dana I know and l- I mean, respect." Carter gave a nervous grin, but the frown had returned to Dana's face.

"_Dammit Carter you screwed it up," _he thought, furious with himself.

The hurt look had come back to Dana's beautiful eyes and Carter wanted to beat his head against a brick wall.

"Not that you couldn't be a model if you really wanted to be, it's just that I didn't think you were that type of girl," he continued hastily.

Dana looked thoughtful for another long minute. Biting her lip, she looked up at him (even sitting down he was still so tall), a scared quality to her eyes.

"I guess…I just liked the attention," she whispered. "I've been the girl-next-door my whole life, never getting looks from guys-" here Carter wanted to punch something- "never minding being by myself. But having everyone fuss over me, telling me that I was pretty…I just didn't want that feeling to go away."

Without thinking Carter took her hand, covering it completely with his own. "Come on Dana, do you really need some prissy fashionista to tell you that you're beautiful?"

A smile appeared on Dana's face, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thanks, Carter."

"You don't believe me," Carter accused.

"Carter, I know you're just trying to make me feel better."

He didn't say anything. Her hand was released.

"And while I appreciate it, I'd really rather just be by myself for a little bi-"

Her sentence was cut off by Carter's finger pressed to her mouth. "You wanna know what I see when I look at you Dana? I see a beautiful woman with eyes that sparkle when she's happy. I see the woman who fights beside me with courage, never once afraid to go into battle. I see the woman who I butted heads with, but gradually came to…" his little speech trailed off.

"Came to what, Carter?" she breathed, moving closer and putting a hand on his arm.

"I love you," Carter blurted suddenly, before he could change his mind and swallow the words.

Dana was stunned. She couldn't have been more exultant at this revelation, but she also didn't know what to say.

"_Come on Dana, say something," _she scolded herself. "C-Carter," she gasped

"Dana…I'm so sorry. I just ruined our friendship." Hanging his head, Carter pulled himself up from the beanbag and headed out the door.

"Wait, don't go," she begged, running over to him and throwing himself into his arms. "I love you too," she whispered softly, standing on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his lips. He kissed her back, hardly daring to believe it was all real.

But of course, they were rudely interrupted a minute later by Kelsey, whose only comment was "It's about time."


End file.
